The most common causes of the errors observed with Rational® Performance Tester, both during Recording & Playback.

Browser and System Port(s)

Cause 1: The browser could already be in use during recording?

Additional Details: RATIONAL® PERFORMANCE TESTER cannot record scripts starting a parallel browser session; this is because RPT needs to create a proxy server port before it can start listening to the traffic exchanged between the client and the server.

Additional Details: The proxy settings in the browser might be hindering RPT take control of the browser and move ahead with recording.

Remedy: Remove all proxy settings in the browser; also disable the Automatic Configuration scripts if any referred in the proxy settings.

However in scenarios where proxy settings are mandatory, please use the steps as described in the technote

Cause 3: Port 10002 (used by RPT to interact with the in-tool agent controller might be in use) hence

Additional Details: This port is used by Rational® Performance Tester to interact with the Agent Controller (Integrated / Remote) to run load tests

Remedy: Check if 10002 is already in use, if yes, please retry after ensuring that the application using port 10002 has relieved this port. Alternatively, you can try a machine re-start to allow the port to go back to LISTENING mode.

You can use netstat command usage to confirm that 10002 is a free port.

Un-supported network traffic - protocol

Cause: If network traffic used by the application does not fall into the supported protocols category,there might be un-expected behavior.

Remedy: Additional protocols can be built using the IBM Rational® Performance Tester Extensibility Software Development Kit (SDK), here is the link to documentation on this

Best Practices – RATIONAL® PERFORMANCE TESTER Recording

Script Maintenance:

Script Maintenance is a crucial part in effective recording process to ensure that the scripts generated in RATIONAL® PERFORMANCE TESTER are optimal and are in sync with the test plans. Some of the main points to be aware of while recording are:-

Always return to the main screen or page at the end of each scenario or before a log-out.Having common beginning and ending screens is reliable

Document Dependencies:

Apart from the formal change / version control processes, documenting dependencies in the environment which can impact the scripts is a major task which can help avoid deficiencies in the test environment and hence help achieve assigned targets with recording process.

Always document dependencies and other information about your split test modules. This will help with test script maintenance and re usability.Use comments in the test or schedule or by using the properties description field associated with each test

If the details provided above do not help address the concerns, please contact IBM Rational Client Support with the details on the issue.